Pop up problem

lamai

I have been surfing now nearly 1.5 years on an NSP 7 6". I'm 5 9" 151lbs. I am getting on grand with surfing can turn go across waves, and I can move the board on the wave, but my pop up is not good.

When I started I found that I would pop up with the use of my knee, I tried to pop straight up but I could not do it, now I pop up fairly quickly but I still use my knee and on the more difficult waves it is really noticeably , any ideas on how I could get my pop up sorted?

promethius

a lot of the surfing schools have been teaching people this incorrect method of getting on your knees first, then standing up. from what i can see it's done to get the person almost standing up on their first lesson and feel like they've got the money worth for the lesson. it's nonsense, the only way to pop is the traditional way,

• match wave speed and feel yourself being picked up by the wave
• hands and placed on rails (or flat on board if you like) close to inline with the shoulders
• back is arched and at same time push up with shoulder
• land your feet along the stringer almost at the same time in position
• relax the knees and look forwards, keep weight forwards

i don't know if you learned this way from a school or not. but they shouldn't be teaching it, you have hugely reduced control on your knees on a board and a learner almost slammed his board into my face during the summer doing this knee thing, wasn't his fault he thought it was the right thing he was doing.

what you should do is forget about this knee business completely and start from scratch with the correct method which won't take long for you seeing you've been out in the water a fair bit. you will find you're up a lot quicker and able to catch steeper waves than previously.

you're having problems since the knee tech is slowing you down and getting up quickly is essential on bigger or steeper waves

and good luck and keep enjoying the stoke!

lamai

promethius wrote: »

a lot of the surfing schools have been teaching people this incorrect method of getting on your knees first, then standing up. from what i can see it's done to get the person almost standing up on their first lesson and feel like they've got the money worth for the lesson. it's nonsense, the only way to pop is the traditional way,

• match wave speed and feel yourself being picked up by the wave
• hands and placed on rails (or flat on board if you like) close to inline with the shoulders
• back is arched and at same time push up with shoulder
• land your feet along the stringer almost at the same time in position
• relax the knees and look forwards, keep weight forwards

i don't know if you learned this way from a school or not. but they shouldn't be teaching it, you have hugely reduced control on your knees on a board and a learner almost slammed his board into my face during the summer doing this knee thing, wasn't his fault he thought it was the right thing he was doing.

what you should do is forget about this knee business completely and start from scratch with the correct method which won't take long for you seeing you've been out in the water a fair bit. you will find you're up a lot quicker and able to catch steeper waves than previously.

you're having problems since the knee tech is slowing you down and getting up quickly is essential on bigger or steeper waves

and good luck and keep enjoying the stoke!

I got one lesson when I started and they did show me the correct way to pop up, I'm just am not able to do the pop up. I can do it on the sand but not in the water. I ended up giving up trying and just did what I was doing, and you are right steeper waves are a problem!! and by the time I have got up on them if I can at all I have missed my opening.

I think I need a new approach to trying to pop up, maybe I need to practice at home?

promethius

lamai wrote: »

I got one lesson when I started and they did show me the correct way to pop up, I'm just am not able to do the pop up. I can do it on the sand but not in the water. I ended up giving up trying and just did what I was doing, and you are right steeper waves are a problem!! and by the time I have got up on them if I can at all I have missed my opening.

I think I need a new approach to trying to pop up, maybe I need to practice at home?

got you, i'd just keep practicing then, on the towel on the floor with some lines on it to simulate the stringer of the board. no substitute for just getting out there of course. when you're out, dedicate the session to how many pop ups you try, count them maybe to make sure you're getting loads in. it will click and then you'll wonder why you ever thought it was hard, honestly. once you nail it (you will) it's not even something you think about after a while. good luck

just thought there, maybe get a friend to video you while popping up so you can look at yourself and see what's going on. might help. if that doesn't help maybe a one on one with a GOOD instructor could be the thing.

rodento

Start doing as many pop ups as you can on the floor each day, the fitter and faster you'll get at it

loctite

I had the exact same problem.
One piece of advice I may offer,

when you are in the back arched, arms extended position (Like an extended press up position) hold it for a second or two to stabilise yourself, this makes all the difference. It allows you to stabilise yourself and the board. Then make the popup.

You should find that your hips sit higher off the board than if you were doing a pop up on terra firma, and actually makes it easier to get to your feet.

Granted on steeper waves you need to get to your feet faster but if you practice the pause you will start to get faster and faster at making the transition from paddle position to your feet.

I hope this helps, it did for me, tis all about the pause!!

oh and one other thing you really have to consciously try to think about popping to your feet otherwise you will instinctively keep returning to your default method. Especially when you are taking a drop that you are not so confident about.

dave_brent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoH8xWlPNeg

3 techniques!!!

seachto7

I always notice the first hour in the water is the hardest popping up, as if I am warming up, then it gets a little easier. But I don't go down enough, that's my problem right there....

Mickeroo

dave_brent wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoH8xWlPNeg

3 techniques!!!

Though its better than using your knees I would stress to avoid the Aussie sprinter too. Bringing your back foot forward like that puts weight on the back of the board straight away which acts like a brake, not really condusive to catching the wave. Also the "pop-up" method in that video isn't great either, doing a push up before bringing your feet forward is not great because on a shorter board you won't have anywhere to put your feet. Your feet should barely touch the board until they are flat on it.

In reality there's only one way to pop up, the other methods are just giving you bad habits/technique from the off.

promethius

Mickeroo wrote: »

Though its better than using your knees I would stress to avoid the Aussie sprinter too. Bringing your back foot forward like that puts weight on the back of the board straight away which acts like a brake, not really condusive to catching the wave. Also the "pop-up" method in that video isn't great either, doing a push up before bringing your feet forward is not great because on a shorter board you won't have anywhere to put your feet. Your feet should barely touch the board until they are flat on it.

In reality there's only one way to pop up, the other methods are just giving you bad habits/technique from the off.

short and to the point and bang on the money.

rodento

promethius wrote: »

a lot of the surfing schools have been teaching people this incorrect method of getting on your knees first, then standing up.

Are you quite sure about this... You can't expect beginners to get to their feet in one swift movement so this has to be the most pratical way to learn

Mickeroo

rodento wrote: »

Are you quite sure about this... You can't expect beginners to get to their feet in one swift movement so this has to be the most pratical way to learn

Its the quickest way to get them standing, but if they decide they want to take up surfing properly it makes it even harder to get it right in the long run imo.

promethius

yeah what mickeroo said, have met a good few surfers who find it hard to ditch the knee technique and it holds them back. it's a very unstable position and not fair to other surfers who might get hit if they fall

Cecil Mor

Using the knees, or breaking it into steps, is all fine and good but only if you are at the beginner stage. It is something which one should really be aiming to improve upon from day one and is as crucial as any other technique that one employs when surfing.
It should be as fluid a movement as possible from horizontal to standing, and ideally to pop into the correct position upon the board.

When at home lye down upon a rug or similarly self sized floor space and practice a few popups. Do it without shoes unless you're a soft cock who wears booties all year 'round as this is more realistic.
Do it until you can get from a flat position to standing in the one movement without dragging toes along the floor as they are swept forwards.

Another good technique to use is visualization.
Visualize yourself completing your popup as it should be done, indeed this can be used for improving any aspect of your surfing, any sport or activity.
Watch some decent surf movies for proper reference rather than a bunch of twats on youtube flapping about in Lahinch.

NEVER look at where you are going! Only look at where you WANT TO GO!
By this I mean do not look straight ahead but rather down the line or along the wave.
If you focus upon where you want to go than it is more likely that that is where you will go. If you focus straight ahead that that's where you'll go, head over tit pearling straight into the bottom of the wave.
Look at skiers, cyclists, MotoGP racers... they never look ahead but across the next bends apex at the exit.

If you still can't improve than its always possible that surfing ain't for you so maybe best to give up and try something else instead.
Happy Christmas Brah!!

keryl

Make it your goal to get the pop up right, forget everything else. All I can say

Happy Christmas and Stoke.

FlashD

Get a balance board or build your own.

Popping up and keeping balance go hand in hand, so with some practice on a balance board it will become second nature.

Regards

Decos

I would have to disagree with this ^

I have an Indo board myself. I dont think it would help him at all with this problem. His problem isnt balance, its getting the pop up done in one swift movement instead of two.

I can see where you're coming from OP. Its easy to do it when on dry land but when it comes to paddling for a wave its very hard to consciously put something into action because there are other variables interfering with your concentration at the time like actually catching the wave and other surfers. Also when you've been doing it the knee way for so long you will try to revert back to that as instinct.

dazftw

When I 1st started I tried the knee way once and it felt horribly uncomfortable, never did it again and im surfing the same length as you and now my pop up is so easy I rarely remember even doing it.

I know that's not advice for you now but maybe other people will see it and try avoid it. It might be easy in the beginning but in the long wrong it'll turn into a habit that will hold you back.

I agree with "it's all about the pause" Start paddling and use your arms to stabilise yourself before popping up. It should be a quick pause though.

I also watched video's online constantly, especially gopro videos to see what other surfers are doing.

ben bennett

there is a lot good information out there about poping up but a lot of miss information too.

popping up is really impo=ortant but not the only thing to be working on, once riding, start enjoying it and thinking about getting across the wave , looking down the line of the wave, beating sections and gaining speed, to really get going on these you will want to be on you feet quick and correct so this will giving you incentive to pop better.

A good instructor will break the skill down for you. Pop up can be divided as follows. Persuming board and wave posistion is right.
Place hands on board under arm pits.
Push board down into wave , creating space for hips to come forward.
Swing hips and feet through
Place feet under you, and release hands.
Be looking up all the time, and dont over arch backwards this places the weight further back on the hips which slows the board and makes it diffiuclt to bring hips through.

Practicing on the floor is fine but it means you are practicing pushing up and back , when you need to be pushing down and coming forward. try practicing on a downward slop and you will see the difference and get a closer feeling to what a proper pop up is.

Why Knees?
i see loads of people "popping up" which they see is getting to their feet in one move, however truly poping up is getting to your feet in one move with your feet up the board, ie your hips centered over the centre of the board. Not getting you hips to the middle is the biggest mistake people make after putting their back foot up first as discussed above. If a person needs to learn the hip swing, knees is the best way, and this is why lots of schools use the method, but unfortunately must dont use it right. i use knees to introduce hip swing and then encourage people to go straight to your feet.
I have seen schools say no knees but if a person cant get to the middle of the board they are just repeating a bad habit over and over again so it is improtant to find what your fault is and fix it , then your pop up will come , not just work vauguely on the overall move.

As for the stall, if your board position is right and your are in the right spot on the wave, there is a moment when the board is dropping down the wave, this is the time to pop , board will drop away under you and there is no lift involved, you swing down and onto your board nice and fuildly. Stalling with your arms locked and back arched means the wieght is on the back of the board and slowing down.

last point be pecific about what is wrong with your pop up if you are not sure get someone who really knows to look at it and then work on fixing that one element. but enjoy every wave you catch no matter how you got upon your waves

dave_brent

Great advice Ben!

spaceHopper

ben bennett wrote: »

but enjoy every wave you catch no matter how you got upon your waves

Great advice Ben keep it coming but I found it was sometimes better to ditch the wave if I fluffed it.

I has a bad habit of getting to my knees, both knees first and was making waves but way to late and ending up spending most of my time padeling back out so I picked a quite peak and every time if fluffed it I ditched the wave got back out much quicker and went again, broke the habbit it one day and got on with really enjoying surfing.

ben bennett

hi . on having to paddle back out etc. dont , if you want to fix your pop up stay inside catch 40-50 waves in a couple of hours and then you will naill it, too many people paddle to the outside when a good session on the inside would be more benefit. if you find the waves are too small or not good enought to catch , you need to look at your postion on th board and your reading of the waves. find most people are just a little of on their board position and cause drag so miss lots of waves.

or take that messy day that you are not going to bother going out and practice on the inside that day, no one wants to work on basics when its really good waves, so good out on the bad days, and you will be ready for bigger and better things on the good days

seachto7

Guys unt gals, not wanting to start another thread, so thought I might chime in on this one, as it deals with "pop up problems". Now I leave it so long until I get to the sea, I usually regress, then improve, then am out of the water for ages, therefore regress etc. and so on!

I was down in Lahinch yesterday, and while conditions probably wouldn't impress the more experienced, they suited me fine. Small sets followed by some bigger sets, so good conditions to get back into the swing of things.

So, I was getting sick of cruising on the whitewater, so thought I'd try and get further out back. Mixed results, and I wasn't expecting anything more. I was watching a guy who was out there for a good bit on a BIC. I think it was a 9ft 4, not sure though. Anyhow, I was looking at him more to pick up some tips on popping up on clean(er) waves. I noticed his take off was really slow, almost lazy, that he wasn't picking up any power, but he was popping up anyways, then he built up some steam as the wave took off. He almost looked like he was popping up before the wave even took hold. His technique looked very relaxed, slow paddling, slow pop up, and leisurely cruising down the face of the wave.

So I tried to copy what he was doing. Mixed results. A lot of the time, I'd try and paddle in, pop up, but would sink. No power or thrust. To me, I appeared to be attempting to pop up on the same type of wave as him, felt I was paddling enough. A lot of the time, the wave would start to break just beyond me. I know there are lots of factors to consider. My size, my ability, my weight etc. But the short term goal being to get up on cleaner waves rather than spending too much time in the whitewater.

I guess the main answer would be spend time in the water eh..........

keryl

I would say the board being 9'4 allowed him to be 'lazy', far more time to get up and not worry so much on paddling

Mickeroo

What size is your board seachto? You can be up and riding on a log a lot sooner than on a shorter board.

seachto7

Tis a log, 9ft 4 too!

Should I just go 10 ft!!??!!

Saying that, yer man was a lot smaller than me. I'm about 6ft 2, and not skinny (but not fat either!)

Mickeroo

I don't think you need a 10ft tbh. Most likely it could be a combination of your positioning on the board and positioning on the wave that's the problem.

Unless your log is a more progressive type one? If it's particularly light with a lot of rocker it might not get onto waves as easily as a more traditional type log.

seachto7

Nope, it's nothing fancy, a "summer surf" job

I reckon it's juts practice practice. I'll eventually buy a fancy log I think....

Decos

seachto7 wrote: »

Nope, it's nothing fancy, a "summer surf" job

I reckon it's juts practice practice. I'll eventually buy a fancy log I think....

Were you taking off in the same spot as him? Maybe he was in the right spot and you were just that bit further out on the shoulder and missing the wave because of this?

seachto7

Yeah, I was a bit closer to the shore and was aware of that. Sometimes I was in the same spot but further out on the shoulder so was a factor as well I'd say....
I suppose people who are very good always make it look easy.....

coper848

I'm 6'2 and 15 stone, I was a competitive swimmer and am still fit and active. I've still got heavy shoulders and due to this I cant lie too far forward on my board or the nose will sink and I'll flip. So when I'm on the board about to pop up my feet are dangling off the end... This single motion pop up suddenly becomes so much harder because I have to pop up from my knees as if I'm on a shortboard. So to actually pop up i find myself bending my right leg, bringing my foot up to my left knee and almost walking up the board instead... Does anyone else have this problem?

I know all I need is more practice but I find it very frustrating when people tell me the same thing over and over again without understanding what my actual problem is...

I own a 7'6 board and once I'm up I'm grand, so I've no interest in getting something longer... Has anyone with more experience (possibly gone through the same problem) got any tips for me?

Thanks

xxyyzz

coper848 wrote: »

I'm 6'2 and 15 stone, I was a competitive swimmer and am still fit and active. I've still got heavy shoulders and due to this I cant lie too far forward on my board or the nose will sink and I'll flip. So when I'm on the board about to pop up my feet are dangling off the end... This single motion pop up suddenly becomes so much harder because I have to pop up from my knees as if I'm on a shortboard. So to actually pop up i find myself bending my right leg, bringing my foot up to my left knee and almost walking up the board instead... Does anyone else have this problem?

I know all I need is more practice but I find it very frustrating when people tell me the same thing over and over again without understanding what my actual problem is...

I own a 7'6 board and once I'm up I'm grand, so I've no interest in getting something longer... Has anyone with more experience (possibly gone through the same problem) got any tips for me?

Thanks

Sounds like you're too far back on your board. You need to get further forward and if the nose is digging in, you need to arch your back to get your weight off the nose. Sorry to say, but this is about practice and experimenting til you get it right, nothing to do with the weight of your shoulders. A lot of good surfers are built like brick outhouses on top and ride boards 18" shorter than yours.

Get off your board and let it float in flat water and note how far out of the water the nose is. Usually less than an inch depending on the rocker. You need to replicate this when you are paddling. Experiment by moving forwards and backwards while paddling in flat water with your back arched and and watching the nose of your board. You don't want the nose pointing up in the air as this means you are pushing the board through the water. This becomes second nature like riding a bike after a while and you instinctively adjust your weight by arching your back more or less depending on what the board is doing.

Also try a bigger board for learning on. 7'6" is not a shortboard but its still pretty small for someone your size when learning to pop up. You'll get bad habits that are hard to break later on from it.